The anger over CBS’ decision to shutter The Late Show with Stephen Colbert continues: On Monday, protesters gathered outside the Ed Sullivan Theater in New York City to shout “Colbert Stays! Trump Must Go!”
Signs like “I Support Colbert” were also waved by a group that reportedly calls itself Refuse Fascism. The protest comes after CBS revealed last week that The Late Show With Stephen Colbert will end its run in May.
CBS execs said it was “purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night” and “is not related in any way to the show’s performance, content or other matters happening at Paramount.” But that hasn’t stopped speculation that politics, in fact, did play a role in whether to keep Colbert employed at CBS.
“We are trying to wake up the people,” one protester told CBS News. “Too many people are accepting this and saying, ‘Colbert we’ll miss you.’ We cannot accept this. This is illegitimate.”
Another protest is planned for Wednesday by a group called the Progressive Change Campaign Committee. The plan is to deliver a petition to CBS headquarters; so far, more than 130,000 people have signed it in hopes of saving Colbert’s job.
“CBS’s decision to cancel Stephen Colbert’s show looks blatantly political,” the petition reads. “Senator Elizabeth Warren points out that CBS’s decision comes ‘just three days after Colbert called out CBS parent company Paramount for its $16M settlement with Trump – a deal that looks like bribery.”‘The NY Times reports the Late Show ‘has been a CBS flagship for more than three decades.’”
“To save Stephen Colbert’s voice in our national debate, CBS needs to see public pushback right away,” the petition continues.
CBS’ decision to shutter its late night show coincides with Colbert’s contract coming to an end. It also came days after Colbert called Paramount Global’s $16M settlement of Donald Trump’s lawsuit a “big fat bribe.”
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